Re: Old Phys-L messages

["Daniel L. MacIsaac" <Dan.MacIsaac@NAU.EDU>]

> Tom's message (about radioactivity from air) prompted me
> to make this suggestion. I was often thinking about possible
> benefits of turning some of the old phys-L threads into a
> resource for teachers. This would not an easy job with our
> old list server but the new one, if I am correct, has modern
> tools for sorting the archive.
>
> If this is true, then perhaps somebody with a lot of time,
> and a lot of teaching experience, could produce a good
> book (electronic book?) out of selected Phys-L contributions.
> There are so many good questions from real people, and so
> many good answers, there.  To avoid the nuisance of
> collecting permissions (to quote messages) invent fictitious
> names and use them instead of real names.
>
> Yes, most of us are too busy for this kind of work. But the
> task may be ideal for a retired teacher, or for a group of
> authors.
> Ludwik Kowalski

Ludwik:

I'd encourage anyone with such an interest to go ahead and prepare
a topical resource paper from PHYS-L sources for actual publication
in The Physics teacher or AJP.  Select a topic, scour the archives,
research external references and write it up.  Rewrite people's
insights, and acknowledge their contributions.  This is perfectly
legitimate.

For example, I wrote up a series of facts about light bulb
filaments taken partially from original postings and external
references (verified from external sources), had some local
folks here at NAU do some SEM pixs of filaments and ran it in
to The Physics Teacher.  I acknowledged PHYS-L contributors
and got help from two peers with the writing.  It was a lot of
work, but I think it'll get published somewheres.

By all means, treat PHYS-L as a resource for publication; but
research your facts and rewrite the content.

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern AZ Univ
danmac@nau.edu          http://purcell.phy.nau.edu         PHYS-L list owner